The newly appointed public bailiffs and a deputy public bailiff have been sworn in today before Justice Minister Nela Kuburović. There was a total of six public bailiffs − two public bailiffs for the High Court and the Commercial Court in Belgrade, two public bailiffs for the High Court and the Commercial Court in Novi Sad, one public bailiff for the High Court and the Commercial Court in Čačak, one public bailiff for the area within the purview of the High Court in Negotin and one for the Commercial Court in Zaječar – and one deputy public bailiff for the area of the High Court and the Commercial Court in Subotica. Minister Kuburović wished them all success in their future work and consistency in the implementation of the law, observing the principles of ethics.
Once the newly appointed bailiffs commence with their activities, there will be a total of 232 public bailiffs and 28 deputy public bailiffs in business in the Republic of Serbia.
On 1 January 2020, the implementation of the Amendments to the Enforcement and Security Act began, significantly improving the status of debtors while strengthening the control of public bailiffs’ work. These amendments make it impossible for debtors to accumulate their costs, and strengthen their social component, i.e. the sole real estate of a private person can no longer be sold for a utilities debt of 5,000 euros. The secured amounts for salaries and pensions have been increased significantly so bailiffs will no longer be able to take two-thirds of the debtors’ salaries and pensions, or a half as a minimum.
Also, one of the innovations is the introduction of an electronic court bulletin board, the e-Board, which replaced the existing physical bulletin boards in courts. This increases the accountability, transparency and efficiency of the judiciary, while enabling citizens and businesses to check the contents of court bulletin boards quickly and easily from a single point of access, which is the Internet. They can now find all submissions from enforcement proceedings that have not been delivered to them personally by the court or the public bailiff.
Also, in line with the new amendments, E-auctions should be launched on 1 March, as a new transparent and fair way of public sale of debtor's real estate which is meant to prevent fraud.
Bailiffs, their deputies and assistants, as well as their family members and close relatives, will no longer be able to participate in any public sale conducted by any bailiff, whether they are directly conducting a sale or not.